Microsoft brings formatting options for Notepad

[harlan4096]

Microsoft is rolling out formatting options in Notepad for all Windows users. These features were introduced a month ago in the Windows Insider Program.

Notepad has existed since 1983, but until now has remained a plain text editor. Over the past couple of years it has gained some modern features such as tabs, auto-save, spell check. Microsoft also bloated it with unwanted features like Copilot Rewrite, Summarize and Write, but you can disable these AI-powered features from the app's settings.

The new formatting options in Notepad include bold, and italic styling. Notepad also supports Markdown syntax for hyperlinks, lists and headings. The options are available via a new toolbar at the top of the window, and via the edit menu. Microsoft says that users can disable formatting completely from Notepad's settings, in case you wish to continue using it as a plain text editor.

Windows Central reports that the formatting options appear to be available for non-insiders. According to Microsoft's original announcement, the features were added in Notepad 11.2504.52.0. The current version of Notepad for Windows 11's stable channel is 11.2504.62.0. I updated it from the Microsoft Store a few days ago, but don't have access to the new formatting features. The rg-adguard tool reports that this is the latest version of Notepad available for the retail channel, yet the features are unavailable. So it is safe to assume that the new features are being rolled out slowly to users.

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